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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 27.
Published in final edited form as: Pharmacol Res. 2011 Feb 1;63(6):477–482. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2011.01.012

Fig 1.

Fig 1.

The vascular ET system. Under physiological conditions, majority (80%) of ET-1 produced by endothelial cells is secreted towards the underlying VSMC. The balance of EC ETB and VSMC ETA and ETB receptors in healthy blood vessels is critical for regulation of vascular tone. In diabetes, ET-1 production as well as VSMC ETA and ETB receptors are increased favoring a more contractile and proliferative phenotype leading to complications of diabetes. EC, endothelial cells; NO, nitric oxide, O2●-, superoxide; PGI2, prostacyclin; VSMC, vascular smooth muscle.